Awareness and Knowledge of Surgical Wound Infections Among Physicians in Hospitals of Riyadh City: Cross-Sectional Study.

Abstract

Surgical site infections (SSI) are considered one of the leading preventable causes of morbidity and mortality among postoperative patient's worldwide, and increasing awareness and knowledge regarding surgical site infection will improve the quality of care. This study aims to use the appropriate tools to assess and analyze the level of awareness and understanding regarding surgical wound infection among medical and surgical interns, residents, specialists and consultants working in Riyadh city hospitals and how each of them plays a crucial role in providing the optimal healthcare for patients and prevent any unwanted devastating complications. Additionally, the objective of this study is to provide the necessary data to help identify the gaps in the participants understating of surgical site infections. In which a cross-sectional study was conducted between March 2022 and October 2022. The Data was collected using a 20-Item multiple-choice questionnaire which was adopted and validated from a previous study. The questionnaire was randomly distributed among physicians working in Riyadh city hospitals. The sample study included 390 participants who completed the questionnaire in 5 minutes on average. The analyzed data showed that 74.8 % of the responders are medical interns, 18.2% are residents, 5.8% are specialists, and 0.12% are consultants. The Results of the study showed that only 3% of all participants have a high level of knowledge and awareness regarding surgical site infection, while the rest of the responders have moderate to low levels of knowledge and awareness regarding the subject. And we recommend improving the awareness and understanding regarding surgical site infection by offering more courses and events on infection control and prevention; in turn, it would decrease the length of hospital stay, improve healthcare out, decrease morbidity and mortality rates and economic costs caused by surgical site infection.